Appeals judges grilled Microsoft lawyers on Tuesday in what
commentators predict could be the last stage of a six-year
antitrust action. Originally brought by the US Department of
Justice and twenty states, the case was largely settled in 2002
when Microsoft, the Justice Department and several states signed a
judicially approved settlement.
The state of Massachusetts is the only state still pressing for
a more stringent agreement, and on Tuesday it, and two trade
groups, argued in court that the settlement should be overturned.
It is unclear whether the court will agree to this, particularly as
the six judges seemed critical of attempts to throw out the earlier
judicial ruling.
Last week also saw the settlement of a class action brought on
behalf of North Carolina consumers, alleging that Microsoft had
violated the state's antitrust and unfair competition laws.
Microsoft said on Thursday that the settlement, which had been
announced several weeks ago but has only now received judicial
approval, will benefit consumers involved in the class action to
the tune of around $89 million.
This will be given to consumers in the form of vouchers for the
purchase of technology products and services – and not just
Microsoft's.
The vouchers will cover any manufacturer's desktop, laptop or
tablet computers running any operating system, or any software.
Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will provide half of
any unclaimed settlement proceeds to the state's most needy public
schools. The schools will be able to use the vouchers to purchase
computer equipment, software and training from any manufacturer.
The remaining half will be retained by Microsoft.
Another antitrust action will take a major step forward this
week, when Microsoft representatives appear before the European
Commission. The software giant is due to put forward its response
to the EU's preliminary verdict on an ongoing investigation into
allegations that Microsoft acted anti-competitively in Europe.
The hearing is due to begin on Wednesday and will run until
Friday.
